Feng Shen Ji III

****SPOILER FREE****

The following review is for all 3 Volumes of Feng Shen Ji.

Blurb: An age-old epic for the modern-times.

It's difficult to improve perfection. And in my opinion, when one tries to reinvent something that doesn't need reinvention, they must take care not to lose the qualities of the original in the pursuit and fascination of the new. Feng Shen Ji thankfully manages to balance (for the most part) the old tropes of the genre with nuanced innovations when it comes to characterizations.

The standout character by far is the eponymous Hero and Legend himself, Wu Geng/Ah Gou. He stands out because over the course of the story he oscillates from being a survivor, to a savior, to a hero, to an arrogant prat, to a monster, and by the end of the story he manages to embody all of these qualities simultaneously and still retains the ability to surprise you just when you think you've got him figured out. Aside from Wu Geng, the supporting cast of characters have also been developed adequately. And I tip my hat to the writer for giving each of them their own moments in the sunshine and not keep the story solely focused on Wu Geng. I would also like to take this moment to thank the translators, who've done a brilliant job with providing text that is not only appropriate but also followed the context of the various scenes and battle-sequences perfectly.

My only criticism, when it comes to the writing, is the lack of development of its female characters. For certain there are more than a few strong female characters in the story, however, as the story progresses they are reduced to being little more than mediums of information exposition and play very limited role in the pivotal moments. The sole exception to this would be the character of Bai Cai, who is perhaps one of the most intriguing characters in the story and yet her role has been confined to being the Yang to Wu Geng's Yin. Whether this was done as a nod to the Chinese Folklores of old, where the story was primarily male-centric or whether the writer merely wished this to be the case is anyone's guess.

Be that as it may, Feng Shen Ji captivated me partly because of its story but mainly because of its art-style and the fact that the whole thing is in color. Which was welcome refreshment. I thoroughly enjoyed the world-building and in particular the action-sequences, of which there are plenty. Overall, I was immensely satisfied with my first ever Manhua experience. The bar has been set high and I can only hope that I come across stories in the future that can equal, if not better the likes of Feng Shen Ji.

Feng Shen Ji III/封神纪III Review


*Just because I give these categories a 10 it doesn't mean they are perfect and flawless it just means they have reached the maximum amout of satisfaction I wanted from each of the categories and I explain why in each section to the best of my abilities*

**Also obviously spoilers may be included so make sure you've actually completed this 3rd Part before reading you've been warned.**


Story (10/10) Outstanding

The story of the third part of this trilogy Manhua that is Feng Shen Ji was just flat out amazing. Coming off the hype train that was Feng Shen Ji 2 some might say that the start of Feng Shen Ji was slow. (Which is probably why it's rated lowest out of the 3 on this site as far as when I'm writing this review). But I personally felt as an overall package the story that Feng Shen Ji 3 brought to the table surpassed that of Feng Shen Ji 2 in damn near every category. Feng Shen Ji can be broken up into 3 arcs, Arc 1 - The Great Generals' Usurpation which I personally think was a very good starting arc as it showcases all of the new things the characters we previously know about (with the exception of Shi Xing and Zi Yu) and let's us know how strong they've become and what has changed in them as a character. We get really good fights and see new abilities from both the Dark Ones and Wu Geng himself. Arc 2 is probably where everyone who loved FSJ2 decided that FSJ3 wasn't living up to what FSJ2 set the standard for as far as hype fights as the beginning of this arc as I like to call the Feng Du Arc or The Nothingness Arc
started of a bit slow and can be seen debatably as an arc that wasn't necessarily need from a story progression standpoint and also can be seen slightly as filler (which is probably why big fans of FSJ2 or even 1 would rate it lower than those) but I personally think this Feng Du Arc although long was not boring to no means and the actual fights that took place in this Arc were amazing Wu Geng once again does not disappoint in his fight and the Generals of the Dark Ones each have their own individual fights with enemies of this arc which are all amazing fights. I didn't think is arc was as bad as people make it out to be, sure it's not better than the second half of FSJ2 but it wasn't aiming to do that. (even though as a story teller you should try to aim and make each arc better as the series continues but I personally think that's not this Arc's job that's the NEXT arc's job). Speaking of the next Arc just jump right into it shall we Arc 4 or as I like to call it The God's Revenge and the final arc in the series. Arc 4 can be seen by the nitpickers as an a copy and paste of the second half of Invasion on the God Domain Arc in FSJ2 and yes you could say that for nitpicking purposes that it can be seen as that. But I don't think it was worse by any means. Majority might say that when it was done the first time in FSJ2 it was better and they liked it more sure I might even be inclined to agree with you BUT, I can't let you say that it was far less liked or far worse than the Invasion on the God Domain Arc in FSJ2 because I can't agree with that what so ever (and I'm just going to call it Arc3/FSJ2 for short here on out). The best things in my opinion about Arc3/FSJ2 was the fact that it was suppose to be the final battle that SHOULD have ended what the series and the fights that took place during this arc where extremely memorable, amazing but not conclusive as many answers where left unknown like where Shi Xing and Xuan Feng went and other little side questions sure they COULD have concluded it here but honestly I'm glad they didn't. Because then Arc4/FSJ3 could never have taken placed which I feel rivals FSJ2 in hype moments if not surpasses it and concludes the story of FSJ far better than a lot of manga, manhwa or manhua out there.


Art (10/10) Masterpiece

Like I said at the start of this review just because I give this section a 10 doesn't mean I feel this section is flawless because with 80 chapters and comparing it to previous parts (FSJ1 and FSJ2) you can see a bit of decline in the art style here and there during this part although you can probably find that in FSJ1 and 2 also I felt it was just a bit more noticeable in this part. None the less I still feel this section manages to receive a 10 not because it's in color (although that's nice) it's mostly because of the actually scenes that are focused upon are gorgeous to no end. It can be compared to key visuals or key animation scenes in anime honestly because these *Key Panels* as they should be called are just straight up masterpieces and I feel that outweigh the panels that look just "ok" immensely. And since I treat my score system more like a meter than a nitpicking little meta score I still think this section deserves a 10 for that reason alone. There's also the fact that the backgrounds are amazing and the moves that are shown during this part are just outstanding but that's can all be seen in said key panels so I digress.



Characters (10/10) Outstanding

The characters in this part of Feng Shen Ji are straight up outstanding and like I said I can't stress this enough it doesn't mean they are perfect just because I give this section a 10 it just means far exceeded my expectations and has reached the cap. Some or quite a lot should i say might say when it came to FSJ3 they didn't like the fact that *spoiler* majority of the likable and developed Generals of the Dark Ones were killed off in Arc4/FSJ3. And they go on to say that they don't like the fact that they became useless during this arc leaving it basically up to the exact same people who we are to rely on to get the job done in Arc3/FSJ2 which consist of Shi Xing, Zi Yu and Wu Geng himself. What I have to say about that is guess what.. just because likable characters die doesn't mean the points should be taken off at least in my opinion. They're purpose SINCE they're focus at the beginning of FSJ3 had deathflags stuck upon each and everyone of their backs. And in the arc of story telling especially in the shonen battle manga genre this specific type of method is used quite a lot. And the method I'm talking about is the fact that the story will introduce certain strong characters and kill them off or embarrass them later in the story just to showcase how strong another future character actually is. One of my favorite shonen battle manga's called Saint Seiya does this quite a lot also (Gold Saints in the Hades Arc). Just because the method exist doesn't mean it's flawed or a bad thing it's really no clear difference between you average plot device which every story has and this method stated above because at the end of the day that's all it really is a type of plot device and if you don't like it well that's you. I'm seeing it for what it is and I personally think it was executed very good should at least one of the Great Generals of the Darks Ones should have survived? Sure that would have been nice but am I going to cry and take points off because they were all basically lambs to the slaughter? No. With that being said I thought the other characters LIKE the ones that were actually focused on which mainly consist of Shi Xing, Zi Yu and Wu Geng obviously were all done outstandingly awesome. Sure some might say Shi Xing hit the back burner hard for the first half of FSJ3 but when he made his return he didn't disappoint same can be said about Uncle Zi Yu and Wu Geng through the entire series never NEVER ceased to disappoint me personally gaining the respect and approve of Tian at the end that I didn't see coming what so ever. I honestly thought he was going to die and or actually trick Tian in a way that leave him powerless because that's how he usually defeats his opponents through out the entire series. But not with Tian (which is another really good character in this series that at first seen as a villian but eventually you figure out that he really isn't and is just a really good antagonist with a god complex who sees our protagonist as a worthy human being by the time that finish fighting that who show down and the way it ended up reminded me a lot of Hunter X Hunter Netero vs Meruem how Meruem felt the same way about Netero at the end of their fight.) The last chapter of FSJ3 focuses on concluded each of their stories in such a outstanding way that I could not help but not give this section a 10 also for the entire experience, characterization, character development and conclusion overall all from a character standpoint.)


Enjoyment (10/10) Outstanding

My enjoyment honestly from start to finish was at the max it could possibly as far was willingness to read a series you want to read. I binge read FSJ1 and FSJ2 and caught up to the translations of FSJ3 and followed it until every week until the conclusion of the series was upon us which was today actually (as far as the translations are concern). Man I'm going to miss this series as I've never felt so engross when it came to reading and experience anything like this every in my life honestly. Feng Shen Ji is shonen battle manga done right and few that rival in from a fight scenes and hype standpoint which is why we read this genre in the first place right? Good ass fights with a good story behind it and Feng Shen Ji 3 (and the whole series in general I felt delivered it better than any other series could especially in the amount of chapters it did it in).


Overall (10/10) Masterpiece

This series will most likely and forever be my favorite manhua series I've ever read. I will continue to read other things as there are other series other there I plan to read that I've heard amazing things about like Gantz, The Breaker and Noblesse to name a few but I will be surprised it any of those will be about to make me say I like any of them more than this right here. They might make me say ________ has a better story or better characters but I doubt I'll like anything more than this and sure you might say I'm little bias when it comes to this series but I'll definitely admit it if they every do end of surpassing my love for this series right here because before I read this I said the same thing for Saint Seiya which as far as Mangas are concern that still is my favorite seeing as this is a Manhua not a Manga. But Anyway Feng Shen Ji is a masterpiece within it's genre and if you like the shonen battle manga series to any extent and/or you just want to see some good ass fights with a good story and simple (but not bad) story behind it I HIGHLY recommend this one to no end.

I'm only a couple of chapters into the third season of Feng Shen Ji, but I've been following this manga (not sure if that word applies, I realize it is chinese so Manhua maybe?) for a couple months and I'm fanboying pretty hard over here which is why I put my enjoyment of it at a 10 :)

Very Mild Spoilers! Don't read ahead if you haven't finished Season 2 yet and hate knowing anything about it!

This season changes in that it approaches more of the political stories that occur after a couple different conflicts. The third act of the series will probably represent a more complex and nuanced story than the first (bildungsroman, or coming-of-age), or the second (conflict/climax/resolution), at the expense of losing some of the dialogue and exciting character exposition that we saw in the first two sections rather frequently. I feel the characterization is a bit weaker in the third and I'm having a lot of trouble identifying with the dark ones, which I guess is the whole point of the dark ones now that I think about it...

Anyways, it definitely follows the predecessors in spirit, but is a fair departure from the first two seasons, and not in the most exciting way. The art falls a little flat and overall I think that component solidifies my decision to give it a lower score than the first two (which I gave 9s). I can only hope that this painful exposition will lead to some more interesting story lines once this act can pick up some steam. I would definitely recommend for people that like reading extended universes, or the kind of people that read the whole Enderverse, the sequels to Dune, or any of Ranma 1/2.